Cruising to Saint Nazaire, France

Saint-Nazaire tourist information.

St-Nazaire, a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France makes a fascinating destination for boat and plane enthusiasts as well as fans of World War II history. The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The beaches along its coastline are some of the best in the Loire-Atlantique department; one was immortalised on film.

The port has always been at the heart of Saint-Nazaire’s history, its very raison d’être. Today there is nothing left of the transatlantic services which regularly linked Saint-Nazaire to Cuba, Mexico, Panama. When the German submarine base was built, between 1940 and 1942, taking the place of the former transatlantic terminal, the whole harbour site was dramatically changed. In recent years, this huge fortification has been the object of town-planning project “Ville-Port” and integrated into the city’s landscape for more peaceful use. Around the submarine pens, around the docks and harbour basin, Saint-Nazaire has both reconciled itself with its port and created an authentic and original tourist offer.